Scaevitas
by KurooCrow
Summary: Sakura was a proud kunoichi, apprentice of Tsunade Senju, a civilian born ninja breaking countless records and barriers. She was not a mere child of only five years. She was not a child, if not for her physical age then for the trials and pain she had been through. But most certainly, Sakura was not going to live through that suffering again. -A Various People Go Back In Time Fic-
1. Prologue - Finality

_**Scaevitas**_

 **Prologue**

 _Finality_

Sakura knew from the beginning that it was a trap. She knew, yet still allowed herself to drag Temari along. Sakura condemned them both the moment she entered the small cave and she _knew that._ Yet, she continued on. Fighting forward through the few shinobi approaching and whispering words of encouragement to the fatigued kunoichi beside her.

It wasn't anger that settled within her as she faced the end. As she stared Kaguya in the eyes with no intention to back down it was a different feeling within her. One she could only describe as… peace.

The kunoichi knew she wouldn't last against such an opponent, but held her head high and raised a kunai before her. She could only assume Temari had accepted the same, hearing the quiet sigh that left the blonde's lips before she tightened the grasp on her kunai, slightly lost without the fan that had been destroyed by a fire jutsu three weeks prior.

Kaguya merely smiled at them, and the very action sickened Sakura. It was as if Kaguya knew the two wouldn't put up a fight. They should, for they were two of the last survivors from any shinobi village. But as the goddess regarded them with a sense of finality and victory, Sakura knew she could see how broken they were. How utterly and sincerely _defeated_.

Sakura knew she was damning them both as she lunged forward with her kunai, yet somehow she knew Temari didn't mind either.


	2. Chapter 1 - Vivication

_**Scaevitas**_

 **Chapter One**

 _Vivication_

Sunlight filtered through the only window present in Sakura's room, dragging the kunoichi from her peaceful sleep with a groan. She huffed, dragging a hand down her face before freezing. _No…_ In a flash she raced to the bathroom- or, she would have if she hadn't collapsed to the floor not a foot away from her bed. _This was wrong_.

Memories flashed past her eyes in rapid succession, from the scared little girl in the chunin exams to the true horrors she faced because of Kaguya.

How was she _alive?_

She remembered… She remembered confronting Kaguya in the small cave… Her and Temari were only armed with kunai…

 _Temari._

Where was the sand kunoichi? If Sakura was alive…

The girl cast her eyes back down to her hands. Her dainty and callous free hands. They were anything but the hands of a hardened shinobi. _They were the hands of a five year old._ The terror she had repressed since awakening roared back to life with a fury she had never experienced.

Sakura had witnessed the life leave her lover's eyes, yet she was never _this_ truly terrified.

It was then that she noticed her hands shaking. Acceptance was only a step away, for if her body proportions didn't spell out the answer for her, all she needed to do was reach for her chakra. But she _couldn't._ It was like grasping for a single thread in a lake of dirty water. It was there, somewhere, but she couldn't see it. She couldn't see _anything around it_ , for where she normally had unimaginable chakra contained was enough for three clones at the maximum.

Yet, she continued grasping, hunting, searching, all in vain. But she couldn't just _stop._ Sakura was a proud kunoichi, apprentice of Tsunade Senju, a civilian born ninja breaking countless records and barriers.

She was _not_ a mere child. She was not a child, if not for her physical age then for the trials and pain she had been through. But most certainly, _Sakura was not going to live through that suffering again._

* * *

 _Haruno Sakura was going to die._

 _She had accepted that the instant she saw Kaguya, yet didn't expect it to be so_ soon. _Sakura was bleeding heavily from several slashes across her body, but she hadn't even seen Kaguya move._

 _Temari was in a similar situation, pressing a hand to the long wound across her eye. The other had been damaged a week ago, and the now blind kunoichi could feel a steady wave of terror consuming her. It was one thing to face your death knowingly, but it was something new all together to face it - quite literally - blind._

 _While Temari had always prided herself on her superior hearing, it was hard to hear anything over the quiet buzz of chakra coming from the center of the room._

 _Kaguya had vanished with a smile and a whisper of words neither kunoichi heard, and it was then that Temari realized the true gravity of their predicament._

" _Sakura!" The voice echoed in her ears. Thousands of times had her friend called her name, but never with such urgency._

 _The kunoichi whipped around to face Temari, expecting an attack from that direction. There was none, however, and Sakura's confusion only grew as she finally noticed the pale light radiating from the stone floor beneath them._

 _It was no longer the single speck of light that Temari had noticed minutes ago. Now it had flared out, crawling up the walls and engulfing the ceiling in ancient runes and symbols. Sakura, the genius that she was, was only able to recognize one of these words, and that was the kanji in the very center of the floor._

'Time'.

" _Time? What the hell?" Her whisper was rushed, frantic, as a foreign sensation tugged at the very core of her being. Sakura struggled,_ shit, _did she struggle. It was impossible, however, to fight what could only be described as the sensation of being ripped from your own body._

* * *

Temari came to terms with her… situation in a different manner than Sakura, yet just as ungraceful.

The blonde awoke in much the same way, confusion marring her features as she replayed the events of the past in her mind.

It was immediately obvious that Kaguya had done… _something_ , but the question of whether this was a genjutsu or reality remained to be proven.

'Time' was the only word that her fellow kunoichi recognized from the sprawling vines of shimmering golden light, (She had seen the runes as they began, and none were identifiable before her eye was damaged) and that only meant one thing in her mind. Time-travel had never been achieved (or even attempted) that Temari knew of, but she supposed something of that nature would be child's play to a centuries old goddess. There was no other explanation for her being seven again besides a complex genjutsu.

From her knowledge, the signature jutsu of Namizake Minato was considered once upon a time for that task, but it was impossible for shinobi to manipulate the seals in the proper way.

Panic was quick to rise in Temari's gut, and she hurried to the bathroom to empty her stomach. By the end of her ordeal tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she couldn't be sure if they were from fear or a genuine joy she had never experienced before.

She was back in time, yes, and considerably weaker due to her young body, but that should mean one thing.

 _Her brothers were alive again._

The realization dawned on Temari as she stumbled into her main room. Her teal eyes widened considerably before she sprinted from her room as fast as her shaky legs would carry her.

Without any call of warning she slammed the door of her six-year old brother open, a fresh wave of tears already rising. Her brother was startled into awareness, sitting up while throwing vague and unremarkable insults at Temari. "Kankuro!" She cried, causing the boy to stop his whining and eye his sister with confusion.

"Temari? What's-" Before he could utter another word the blond kunoichi launched herself forward, her arms locking around Kankuro's neck in a grip that suggested she wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

"I'm so _sorry,_ Kankuro! I shouldn't have let you make that choice and I'm so _sorry._ " Temari was unable to keep the words from gushing forth, even if her mind knew that they would only confuse her brother further.

He made a half-assed attempt to push Temari away for a moment, "Temari! What are you sayi- _Ugh,_ your breath smells like shit!"

Temari's small moment of shame caused by his confession was covered in an instant as she pulled away from Kankuro. "What did you just say to me?" Kankuro realized his mistake as soon as he saw the mild rage in Temari's eyes. Rather than slap the back of his head as she would usually do when he swore, Temari waved her hand in casual dismissal.

"Forget about it, Kankuro." She bit her lip for a moment and Kankuro could see the blatant fear in her eyes. For a moment he wasn't sure what she would have to fear when speaking with him until her next question slipped out, "What do you think about doing something with Gaara today?"

There was barely five seconds that passed before Temari was forcefully shoved from her brother's room, the door slamming in her face.

"There's no way I'm talking to that monster and neither should you!" It seemed that was the end of the conversation from Kankuro's end as Temari heard him walking away, muttering something about his sister finally losing it.

Temari huffed, only returning a weak, "He's still our brother, Kankuro." This earned a scoff from inside the room which prompted Temari to take her leave.

Kankuro's words, while proven incorrect again and again, were words that held much more truth behind them in this time. Temari herself was only about seven which would mean that Gaara was… _shit._

Her youngest brother would only be around the age of four. While this meant he would be much more open to affection as he hasn't been abandoned for 12 years, it also meant that Temari had to immediately begin planning a way to stop the Yashamaru incident from happening. Based on what her Gaara had explained, that was the catalyst to fuel the rage and loneliness that would haunt him for years.

These trains of thought only brought courage and determination to Temari, who quickly made up her mind about the future and stopped in front of the last door in the hallway.

Carefully, she brought her hand up to knock on the door. No answer came, though she could feel a consistent chakra from within the room.

Taking a considerable risk, Temari reached out the test the door, and pushed it open slightly upon discovering that it was unlocked.

Temari released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and called out a gentle, "Gaara?"


	3. Chapter 2 - Specious

_**Scaevitas**_

 **Chapter Two**

 _Specious_

Morning greetings from her parents were one of the things Sakura missed the most as the war progressed. At first she merely missed their company. There were no warm smiles and questions as she came home from missions, no affirmations of love and affection and gentle goodbyes.

Her longing only increased after they died in one of the many attacks on Konoha. It was something she often discussed with Hinata during their late night patrols. Both kunoichi were in a constant state of mourning for family and friends.

Sakura's world collapsed when she lost Hinata only a few months after her parents.

When Hinata was gone the change in Sakura was apparent even to those who only knew her in passing. The change was still present now, as Sakura called a response to her parents with fake enthusiasm.

"Are you excited for your first day?" Mebuki flashed a loving smile at Sakura, startling the girl into silence for a moment.

How long had it been since she saw her mother smile? Sakura had almost forgotten what she looked like.

"Yeah!" She cheered, though Mebuki was forced to hold back a frown as she saw the grin far from reaching her eyes.

Sakura kept her fake smile in place as she took a few bites of breakfast, unable to eat more than a small portion before feeling nauseous once more.

"Mom? Is it alright if I leave now?"

Mebuki was clearly startled by the question. Sakura was always one to wake up early in order to prepare for her day, but she never wanted to _leave_ that early. "Are you sure? Class doesn't start for another three hours." The tone of her voice was clearly demanding an explanation behind Sakura's sudden desire to be early.

"I just want to make a good impression on my first day!" Sakura took Mebuki's question as a form of confirmation, gathering her supplies quickly and strolling to the door. "I'll see you after class, Mom!"

A few moments passed after the door shut before Mebuki moved again, eyeing Sakura's half-eaten plate with concern. "What happened to her…?"

* * *

 _The presence of Hinata was enough to lift the haze of depression from Sakura's eyes most nights. Her gentle embraces were comforting, prompting Sakura to relax despite knowing that their camp could be attacked at any moment._

" _I don't know how I would make it through this without you." Sakura whispered, eyeing the blush that was building in Hinata's cheeks even after all these years._

 _Hinata joined Sakura in a seated position, moving forward to wrap her arms around Sakura's torso. "You'll never have to, Sakura-chan. I'll always be here for you."_

 _Sakura had to bite her lip to hold in a sob, her mind instantly replaying memories of her parents and friends promising the same thing._

" _And I you, Hinata. I swear it." She would never admit that her voice cracked in that moment, but she could never deny the pure affection swelling in her chest._

 _That was the final night she fell asleep in her lover's arms._

 _The final night she kissed Hinata's lips with a whisper of "I love you."_

* * *

"Gaara?" Temari repeated the call when no response came, pushing the door open a bit further. "Can… Can we talk, Gaara?"

Temari knew it was urgent to speak to Gaara, to bring him back to humanity before the mindset of a monster took over. It was early enough to save her younger brother a lot of emotional trauma. The situation would be a touch more challenging if Yashamaru was already dead, but Temari was fairly certain she would make it in time.

Gaara still didn't reply, so Temari sighed briefly before continuing, "I'm coming in, Gaara."

Her brother was sitting on his bed and snapped shut the book he was reading as Temari entered.

"What?" All Temari had done was enter the room, but a few grains of sand were already rising to float around Gaara protectively. No wonder she had been so terrified of him as a child.

Temari held up her hands in surrender, doing her best to keep an easygoing smile on her features. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm your sister." It was obvious that he didn't understand what their relation had to do with not hurting him, and Temari nearly slapped herself for forgetting how their father always treated Gaara.

"What is it you want then?" He didn't talk as a four-year-old should, Temari noted. Even sitting he held himself with a poise that was only present in older shinobi.

Once again Temari was forced to remember how quickly he had to grow up while her and Kankuro stood by without saying a word. All because their father forbade them from speaking with the 'monster'

But now Temari knew better.

There was no monster. There was no demon masquerading as her youngest brother always at risk of killing them. There was only a frightened little boy, giving in to the demon in an effort to protect himself from even his family.

Temari eyed the book still clutched between his hands and felt her heart flutter. At least some things stayed the same. "You're interested in cacti?" It was a relief, really. Temari knew quite a bit about cultivating cacti from her time spent with Gaara after the chunin exams.

A red tint appeared in Gaara's cheeks as he moved the book to his side and out of Temari's line of sight.

"I want to raise them." He muttered, moving one hand to play with the edge of his shirt.

It would have been difficult, she realized, for Gaara to obtain as many cacti as he had before the chunin exams on his own. He was shunned in town and no shop would even look in his direction. "I can help you."

Gaara's eyes snapped to his sister in awe and fascination. "You… you would?"

Temari nodded, moving to sit on the edge of the bed next to Gaara, pleased when the sand made no move other than a slight twitch in her direction.

"I would love to, Gaara."

Almost immediately her brother snatched the book that was next to him, presenting it to Temari with the widest grin she had ever seen from him.

In that instant Temari knew everything would be okay. Her family would learn to piece itself back together as it had once before, and this time she would make sure nothing hurt either of her siblings.

* * *

" _It's… beautiful." Temari could only whisper in amazement as she took in her surroundings. "You made all of this?" She questioned, only shooting her brother a quick glance._

" _A few months before the chunin exams. This is where I would come at night." Gaara explained, blushing at Temari's praise._

 _They were surrounded by various cacti and desert flowers, all arranged perfectly so their colors blended together and made one large gradient._

" _I… Father never let us near this part of the village. I always thought it was because of dangers or political reasons but…" She frowned for the first time since entering his safe haven. "Why wouldn't he want us to see_ this?"

 _Gaara forced a faint smile. "He didn't want you two to see me as anything other than a demon. If you saw humanity… I might not have become the monster I once was."_

 _Any amusement present in Temari's features vanished. Gaara had gradually become more open in talking about his childhood, and Temari made sure she was always there to correct him when needed._

" _You were never a monster, Brother." She chose to ignore Gaara's eye roll and continued, "You were misguided and hurt but_ never _a monster. I don't want you to ever believe that again."_

" _It's not something I can just stop believing, Temari." Gaara sighed, sitting on one of the various sand benches around the garden. "It's something I was taught to believe my whole life. Everyone I loved betrayed me and by the end… I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you. If you stood in my way I would have killed you just as I killed countless others."_

 _Temari bit her lip, turning her gaze to the ground. She couldn't just deny his claim. There was no way she could possibly know what was going through the young Gaara's mind._

" _But that was our fault. Kankuro and I… we abandoned you. We ignored you to follow what Father said and I'm sorry for that." Finally, she moved to sit next to Gaara and take his hands in hers. "I know words can never express just how sorry we both are. We were the ones who_ made _you the monster, Gaara. And I promise that if I had the chance to change any of it I would. Even if it meant losing my life I would do anything for you to feel as loved as you are now from a young age."_

 _Even after becoming the Kazekage and opening up Gaara was never one for extended physical contact unless necessary. That's why it completely floored Temari when he reached forward to pull her into a tight embrace._


	4. Chapter 3 - Infracaninophile

_**Scaevitas**_

 **Chapter Three**

 _Infracaninophile_

Seeing Hinata again after two years of mourning was certainly not a task Sakura was mentally prepared for. She had spent all of that time coping with the loss that threatened to push her over the edge.

Perhaps that was why she skipped the first day of classes to train.

Sakura ruled against sending a clone in her place, doubting her chakra would last through her routine. Her obvious lack of chakra still frightened her. While she had absolutely no desire to return to her own time, Sakura longed for her previous strength and chakra reserves. At times she wished she had Naruto's ability to train using hundreds of clones at once.

Sakura shivered at the thought of how much more powerful she would have been if dozens of her trained at once.

She could have been strong enough to protect those she loved.

In a flash Sakura connected her fist to the training stump to dispel that line of thought. She barely winced as she eyed her bloody knuckles. "From only one punch…" Sakura whispered. It had taken years for her hands to be able to withstand intense hits, but she never remembered being _this_ weak. Emerald eyes shifted back to the stump with a sigh. "And no damage done…"

The declaration of her weakness only prompted Sakura to pull back her fist before delivering another punch.

* * *

Temari should have expected the stares as she walked the village streets with Gaara's hand in hers, but some part of her hoped to avoid that. No matter her age, people usually stayed away from the Kazekage's eldest to escape her fiery temper.

It seemed every whisper led to Gaara's grip tightening just a fraction. Every insult and sneer led to the young boy lowering his head in shame.

He was still too young to fully comprehend just how _different_ Shukaku made him. Temari was certain that Gaara had been told of the beast at this point, but there was no guarantee that Gaara understood the true burden he carried.

"Gaara?" Her tone was cautious, eyeing the sand lazily floating around her brother.

Immediately he tensed, already knowing what she was referring to with her simple question. "After the comments they start throwing things… the sand protects me."

Temari's heart dropped into her stomach. "They… throw things at you?" She struggled to keep her voice even as her upper lip gradually pulled back into a snarl.

Gaara watched Temari in apprehension. Was she going to defend him? It was a new concept to the jinchuuriki.

He didn't reply to her inquiry, opting instead to keep his head down and focus on counting grains of sand around his feet.

It wasn't twenty seconds after Temari asked her question that a rock came sailing through the air towards Gaara. He yelped, too occupied with his sister to pay attention but throwing up a thin wall of sand in defense.

Gaara always knew when something touched his sand. If he didn't hear the impact there was always the variations in his chakra to inform him of the contact. This time, however, there was no signal.

The wall crumbled away to reveal the _growling_ Temari. Her fan was held to her side, and from the gouged lines in the sand it was painfully obvious she had used it to deflect the tiny rock and launch waves of wind towards the attacker.

" _Don't you ever try to hurt my little brother."_

To say Gaara was shocked would be an understatement. He was _astonished,_ and stumbled back a few steps.

" _Brother?_ " A woman cried with blatant disgust in her voice. "Tha-That _thing_ is a demon and should be put down!" Gaara flinched back at the words, prepared for Temari to join the teasing and hurt him.

Had this all been a ploy to gain his trust only to betray him?

"It seems you forget whose son he is. Do you think the Kazekage will appreciate you harming his youngest child?" A different man smirked, clearly about to mention the various assassination attempts that even the citizens were aware of at this point. "Do you forget who his sister is?"

His smirk fell.

There were certain Suna shinobi that even children knew to stay away from. The Kazekage's eldest was one of these people, for even at the age of seven it was well known she would take any measure necessary to protect her family and friends. Little did they know how true that statement was after the future Temari had experienced.

"U-Uh…" Temari narrowed her eyes towards the man, her snarl relaxing into a frown.

Temari turned slightly to better face the loose crowd of people watching the spectacle. "If I hear word of anyone so much as _looking_ at Gaara wrong there will be severe consequences."

With her final warning the kunoichi grabbed Gaara's hand and gently pulled him in the direction of the shop they needed. Throughout the time they walked Gaara's eyes never left the hand that held his. His initial shock at the sand taking no interest in blocking her was dismissed as he realized that Temari's hand was shaking in his grasp, and if he glanced up he could see her grinding her teeth. "Are you mad?"

Her eyes snapped to him for barely a second before returning to the road ahead. "Not at you, Gaara. Never at you." She whispered the last sentence to herself with a look Gaara couldn't identify in her eyes. Regret, perhaps?

"Then… at the villagers?"

Temari bit her tongue for a moment to hold back a sharp comment and explained in a much calmer tone than she wished, "No, not really. I'm mad at our father. He began the tradition of treating you poorly and was the one who inspired fear in the village." Her mouth stayed open for a moment as she debated continuing, "That includes Kankuro and I."

Gaara wasn't sure how to reply, deciding silence was the best option. It wasn't an easy task for him to voice his emotions. They were something he was forced to keep hidden even at his age, and he wasn't sure how to tell his sister that there was nothing for her to apologize for.

* * *

" _Don't you_ ever _try to hurt my little brother."_

" _Temari." For a moment Temari thought the new Kazekage was going to scold her for calling him little. It didn't even cross her mind that he might be angry about her digging a kunai into the neck of Gaara's 'attacker' enough to draw blood._

* * *

Sakura huffed, ripping the torn layer of bandages from her hands to replace them with fresh ones. She had been training for five hours now and was becoming annoyed at how much chakra it took to heal the small wounds across her knuckles.

Her chakra control hadn't wavered much, and she was unbelievable thankful for that. Building up her chakra reserves was a lot simpler than going through her basic control training again.

Throughout her training she had been debating how to approach the subject of contacting Temari. It was essential to know if she held the same memories as Sakura.

Sakura ran through one last training drill that Kakashi had taught her before stopping. The academy had just ended judging by the time, so her mother would expect her home soon.

One thing she certainly wasn't expecting was to see Iruka sitting in her kitchen casually chatting with her parents.

"Iruka-sensei?" A flash of confusion passed through the teacher's eyes, and it occurred to Sakra that there was no reason she should have already known his name.

"Sakura-chan! Iruka-san has been telling us that you weren't in class today." Mebuki continued to hold her gentle smile as she addressed Sakura.

It was never in doubt that Sakura was a genius, yet at this moment she found absolutely no excuse.

"I… I was training." She settled for the truth, though her parents would never know just how intense her training had truly been.

Iruka, despite what Sakura expected, merely nodded in understanding, "Oh, alright. I know it can be quite intimidating to start the academy, but you don't need to worry." Sakura's eyes widened in shock before she masked her expression quickly. "Everyone in your class is very kind and I'm looking forward to teaching you."

Sakura answered with a few hasty words of confirmation that she would attend tomorrow and was simply too overwhelmed today. (Her mother's explanation that she seemed different that morning didn't hurt that defense at all.)

She retreated up to her room after Iruka left, claiming she was exhausted from training. It was about time she wrote a letter to Temari.

 _I apologize that it took so long to contact you. There was no excuse to send a letter to the sand when I have never left the village._

 _I'm not sure if you know why I am contacting you, really._

 _If you do, please write back immediately._

 _H.S._

* * *

Sakura sighed, keeping her eyes on the door to her right with obvious apprehension. For a moment she wished she had gone back further in time in order to raise her chakra levels. At least then she would be able to send a clone to class.

A few moments later the door slid open, and Sakura was seriously contemplating fleeing through the window.

It seemed Iruka didn't notice the kunoichi as he entered, his eyes focused on the papers in his hands. "Morning, Iruka-sensei." The chunin startled, facing Sakura with wide eyes.

"Oh! You're early." Sakura held back a smug smile at his panicked response. She wasn't surprised that he was alarmed by her presence this early considering class _still_ didn't start for an hour and a half.

Sakura only nodded to her sensei before resting her head on her arms and closing her eyes. She knew Iruka would merely assume she was resting, and it was the perfect time to focus on meditation and remastering her chakra control. Since Sakura still had her memories chakra control itself wasn't an issue, but it was challenging to adjust to how little chakra she held.

The hour and a half passed quicker than Sakura had hoped they would. She couldn't deny the excitement at seeing her old friends and teammates, but the guilt hadn't stopped gnawing away at her.

It was _her_ fault that half of the people in her class had died.

She was almost glad they couldn't remember anything.

Hinata (Sakura cursed her luck) was the first student to arrive. Sakura felt her eyes widen as the young girl walked in practically shaking from nerves.

Sakura couldn't stop the flashes of memories that passed through her mind. From comforting hugs and meaningful glances to hands coated in drying blood.

It felt as if Sakura's lungs collapsed and her throat tightened. She turned away from Hinata in an effort to control and hide her raging panic. No, not here. Sakura _refused_ to have a panic attack here. Still, she eyed her trembling hands and felt her body tense further. There hadn't been an attack since-

"S-Sakura-san?" Every ounce of stress left Sakura as Hinata called out to her. "Would it be o-okay if I sat n-next to you?"

Sakura forced a smile, holding back a whimper as she nodded. "Of course, Hinata." The Hyuga's lips curled into a smile, but Sakura could see the concern in her eyes. Hinata had never been dumb, and Sakura's pain was currently something even Naruto would notice.

"A-Are you alright?" Sakura debated how to answer the question while simultaneously promising herself to work with Hinata once again to overcome the stuttering issue.

"No, not really." Hinata tilted her head to the side, clearly about to ask what was wrong when she continued, "There's a lot on my mind. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

That much wasn't a lie. Sakura knew she couldn't go forward in this life if she was constantly reliving every horrible experience from her past. She would never completely block those memories away, but she had nothing against spending some time to herself tonight to get her priorities straightened.

It was essential for her to form a plan. She hadn't received a return letter from Temari yet, but she could begin to work on some aspects that only involved Konoha.

There was much to be done before the time of the chunin exams, and Sakura only hoped that this time she wouldn't lose any of her friends.

* * *

 _It's good to hear from you, Sakura. I was starting to think that I was just imagining everything._

 _How are things going in Konoha? Has anything drastic changed from your previous timeline?_

 _Nothing is different here that I am aware of yet._

 _Well, things have changed but that is only because I have been working to gain Gaara's trust and get the village to accept him. I'd like to prevent a repeat of his last life. I never want to see my family that miserable again._

 _Anyways, if you need an excuse you could always use my political visits. I have been to Konoha a few times already (I think) and it would be believable enough that we became friends since we are both around the same age._

 _It's good to know for sure that I'm not alone in this, you know?_

 _Hopefully we can meet in person soon._

 _-Temari_

A sigh escaped Sakura as she read Temari's letter. It was a huge relief to her that the Suna kunoichi remembered their timeline, but it only raised more questions. Had they been sent to the same time or had Temari been here longer? The jutsu was obviously what sent them back, but had it been used before? Sakura wasn't sure if the thought of others from her time was a comfort or a burden.

* * *

 _Temari-san._

 _Apparently you didn't catch on, but I was hoping to be subtle in my letters in case they were intercepted. You mentioned names, locations, and our time travel all in one letter. (Although I suppose that is what I am doing now.)_

 _I'm sure nothing bad will come of it, but it's better for our villages to not question our well-being._

 _Then again I doubt there is any reason for letters between two children to be read._

 _Then again you are the Kazekage's eldest daughter._

 _Well, it's too late now. I'll blame you if we get killed because of this._

 _Sakura_

* * *

Sakura received a return letter only two days later. She carefully broke the seal and opened it, immediately ripping the paper in half as she read the only two lines present.

 _Whoops._

 _-Temari_

* * *

'Confused' was the closest Haku could come to describing how they felt as their eyes snapped open.

They remembered dying. _Twice._ The second time was technically just the reversal of a reanimation jutsu but the first…

Haku reached for their chest, pulling their loose shirt away to inspect the scar. Or… what should have been a scar. Instead, there was clear skin. A few scattered cuts and bruises, but nothing Haku wasn't used to.

They frowned, just now noticing the size of their hands. This couldn't be...

Haku glanced around in awe for a few moments, identifying their childhood home. Was this heaven?

From what Haku's hearing suggested, their mother was in the next room making… dinner? Haku looked to the window where the setting sun was visible. So, dinner it was.

It was hard for Haku to wrap their head around what was happening. Were they truly back in their younger body? Did they have a chance to make things better? To save their mother and Zabuza?

They flinched as their father entered the room, the stench of alcohol already assaulting their senses.

No, it seemed hell was more fitting.


End file.
